Posts in "Mich.-7"

June 1, 2015

Schriock is the president of EMILY’s List. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

EMILY’s List put 15 GOP incumbents “On Notice” for their re-election bids Monday, naming its top GOP targets for 2016, according to a release provided first to CQ Roll Call.

The group, which backs women who support abortion rights, says each incumbent has a bad record on women’s health issues, and will make it a priority to find female recruits to challenge them next fall. The list is almost identical to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s top targets in 2016, when the party will seek to put a dent in Republicans’ historic House majority.

May 1, 2015

Walden is the chairman of the NRCC. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The National Republican Congressional Committee added eight more members to its Patriot program Friday, according to a list provided first to CQ Roll Call.

The program provides fundraising and organizational support to the GOP Caucus’ most vulnerable incumbents. Democrats are targeting these members in 2016, when the party will look to make a dent in the House Republican majority.

March 3, 2015

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will launch robocalls against more than two dozen House Republicans Tuesday over the Department of Homeland Security funding flap, according to a script of the call provided first to CQ Roll Call.

October 6, 2014

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has started to pull back its advertising buys in several congressional districts around the country, according to an aide.

At this point in the cycle, the cancellations — also known as “triage” — serve as a signal the party does not see a path to victory for these candidates or races. House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC, has already pulled some of its buys in the same districts.

For now, House Democrats are only canceling airtime reservations in open-seat races or offensive opportunities. In some cases, the DCCC is still airing advertisements in some of the affected races for the next couple weeks.

In addition to the cancellations, the DCCC is also moving money to other districts, including other open-seat opportunities, districts held by Democrats and one GOP incumbent target.

House Democrats must net 17 seats to win the majority, but it’s more likely they will lose seats in November. These cuts allow the DCCC to use the party’s resources in other reasons where the party has a higher likelihood of winning.

October 1, 2014

Updated Thursday, 2:03 p.m. | House Majority PAC, a super PAC that aids House Democrats, has recently canceled around $1 million in ad reservations in races throughout the Midwest and Northeast.

The shifts indicate Democrats are more optimistic about winning some House races — and have given up hope on others.

These changes were spotted by sources who track media buys and confirmed by a House Majority PAC spokesman, who declined to specify the super PAC’s reasons for moving funds to or from particular House races:

May 29, 2014

Israel is the current chairman of the DCCC. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reserved $43.5 million in television airtime in dozens of targeted House districts this fall — a signal the party is attempting to play defense and offense in a challenging midterm cycle.

The money is split across 36 districts, including 17 pickup opportunities, according to a DCCC aide. More districts and more money could be added to the reservations as the cycle progresses, the aide said.

The DCCC had $43.3 million in the bank at the end of April and has raised more than its Republican counterpart by large margins this cycle. The committee ended April with an $11 million cash-on-hand advantage over the National Republican Congressional Committee.

These ad reservations give insight into which members Democrats see as vulnerable, and which seats the DCCC sees as the best possibility to take in November. They also signal to outside groups where the the party might need help on the airwaves this fall.

However, parties can cancel or change these reservations until shortly before the advertisements air in most cases.

March 3, 2014

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee rolled out the first 35 districts of its “Red to Blue” program Monday, highlighting the GOP-held seats the party believes it can flip and open seats it hopes to keep in the Democratic column in the 2014 midterms.

Needing to net 17 seats to win back the House majority, the announcement makes clear where the party believes its most important fights will take place.

“This is our initial roll out,” DCCC Chairman Steve Israel said Monday morning on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown.” “There will be more, and we will have a very competitive battlefield as we go deeper into the cycle.” Full story

December 3, 2013

Updated 2:01 p.m. | Interim Wayne State University Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson will not run for Congress, according to a Capitol Hill source.

This fall, Benson expressed interest in running for the Democratic nomination to take on Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, R-Mich., in the 11th District. Top House Democrats had recruited her to run, and she attended a caucus meeting in mid-October amid the government shutdown. Full story

August 8, 2013

Israel is the chairman of the DCCC. (Bill Clark CQ/Roll Call File Photo)

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to target 17 House Republicans with a grass-roots push over the August recess, according to an internal party email obtained by CQ Roll Call.

On Monday, a DCCC aide sent a message to an email list sponsored by Americans United for Change, a liberal organization, describing the committee’s plans for the month-long break and including the warning, “please do not share this list with press.”

“In the majority of these districts we have field staffers on the ground, coordinated through the respective state parties, to define and hold accountable vulnerable Republican incumbents, through earned media tactics, messaging amplification, and community outreach,” wrote Ryan Daniels, the deputy national press secretary and African-American media adviser.

The DCCC’s list includes some of this cycle’s most-often mentioned vulnerable Republicans, but there are some lesser-known targets as well: Full story

July 18, 2013

“Washington is broken and Rep. Tim Walberg is part of the problem,” Byrnes said in a release. “Michigan’s middle-class is paying the price for his partisan politics that put special interests and corporation before working families.”

The recruit, and the district, had not previously been prominent going into the 2014 cycle. Mitt Romney carried the district by 3 points in 2012, while President Barack Obama carried it by the same margin in 2008. This race is rated Safe Republican by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.

Byrnes was a member of the state House until 2010, when she was term-limited out of office. She lost a state Senate bid that cycle, according to AnnArbor.com.

May 15, 2012

Rep. Tim Walberg (R) will not have a top challenger for his re-election race this November, leaving Democrats with a major recruitment hole in the Michigan map.

Instead, Democrats will focus their efforts on a rerun race between freshman Rep. Dan Benishek (R) and former state Rep. Gary McDowell (D) in the state’s Upper Peninsula.

The Wolverine State’s Congressional races were set today, when the candidate filing period closed at 4 p.m. There were no major surprises among the dozens of petitions, including Walberg’s race. A couple of weeks ago, former GOP Rep. Joe Schwarz declined to challenge Walberg as a Democrat.

Michigan shed a House seat due to population loss, and Republicans led a redraw of the state’s Congressional boundaries last year. As a result, a few Democrats filed to run for re-election in new territory around Detroit.

House Democrats are recruiting former Rep. Joe Schwarz, who served in Congress as a Republican, to challenge Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), according to a local report.

MIRS, a Michigan political news service, confirmed Schwarz talked with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week about the race. Schwarz, a frequent critic of the GOP’s conservative wing, told MIRS that “competition would be good” for Walberg.

Schwarz’s Democratic candidacy would make the district competitive for the DCCC, which has yet to find a recruit to challenge Walberg. And if Schwarz decides to run, his bid would mark the third time he’s faced Walberg in the 7th district. Full story